Sheet catcher and piler



Jam. 23L WW. G. MEGELA SHEET CATCHER AND .PILER Filed Oct. 19, 1937 BYM/MM A TTORNEYS.

Patented Jan. 31, 1939 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE Claims.

The invention relates to the working of metal, particularly to therolling of ingots and billets of steel into sheets.

In a well-known and common practice ingots 5 or billets of steel,preheated to proper temperature, are reduced to sheet form between therolls of a rolling mill. The body of metal being worked is passed timeand again between the rolls of the mill, and is attenuated and flattenedin the successive passes until a sheet of desired thickness is obtained.Usually, two attendants operate the millone attendant (known as theroller) is stationed on the work-introducing side of the mill, and theother (known as the catcher) stands on the delivery side of the mill.The roller feeds the work into the mill, and the catcher, with the aidof tongs, receives the work and swings it to position above the upperroll of the mill. The roller grabs the work with tongs and reintroducesto the mill. When the metal has been repeatedly passed through the milland worked to given specifications, either the catcher (or anotherattendant, known as the piler) takes the sheet coming from the mill andpiles it in a stack with other sheets that have been finished.

Having the above-described practice in mind, the invention consists inimproved and simplified apparatus for receiving the work on the deliveryside of a rolling mill, and automatically returning it to position whereit is accessible to the roller. The apparatus is also adapted to pile orstack the finished sheets, or to deliver the finished sheets toinstrumentalities which will do the piling or stacking. The apparatusincludes a system of endless conveyors that receive the work moving fromthe mill and return it to the roller. Means are embodied in theapparatus for interrupting the normal course of the work through thesystem of conveyors, and delivering it (in finished sheet form) to thetopof a stack, or to a stacker or other apparatus.

The accompanying drawing is a diagrammatic illustration of apparatusembodying the invention.

Referring to the drawing, the numerals l and 2 indicate the rolls of atwo-high rolling mill, and in known way the rolls are powerfully rotatedin the direction of the arrows. The reference character W indicates abody of metal in course of advance through the mill. On thework-delivering side of the mill, a system of endless conveyors isorganized-in this case three endless conveyors 3, 4 and 5. Threeconveyors, of the structure and organization presently to be described,provide particularly effective means to ends in view.

Each of the conveyors consists in an endless metal band of chain or linkconstruction of known sort, mounted on spaced-apart rollers 6 and I forrapid and continuous travel. The particular organization of theconveyors is important. The roller 6 of conveyor 3 is arranged adjacentto the exit of the pass between rolls l and 2, and from such roller theconveyor extends upward at a substantial angle to the horizontal. Thetwo conveyors 4 and 5 extend in substantially horizontal planes abovethe conveyor 3; as viewed in plan the conveyors 4 and 5 arelongitudinally aligned, with the supporting roller 6 of conveyor 5spaced horizontally from and at higher elevation than the roller 1 ofconveyor 5. The supporting rollers 6 and l of conveyors i and 5, and thesupporting roller 6 of conveyor 3, are trunnioned in a suitable frame,which for the sake of simplicity has been omitted from the drawing, andthe roller I of conveyor 3 is trunnioned in the distal end of a frame 6that is pivotally secured at its proximal end upon the axle of roller 6.The distal end of frame 8 is pivotally secured to the upper end of arack 9 which is held in mesh with a pinion ill on the shaft of areversible electric motor II. In normal operation of the mill, thepositions of the parts are as shown in full lines in the drawing, it 30being noted that the frame 8 supports the roller 1 of conveyor 3 in theinterval between the rollers I and 6 of conveyors 4 and 5, respectively.

An electric motor may in known way be arranged to drive each conveyor,or one motor may be arranged to drive allthree conveyors. In this case amotor 12 is mounted on the side of frame 8, and by means of a chain-beltI3 is adapted to drive a gear 3|] secured on the axle of roller 1 ofconveyor 3. Gears 4,0 and 50 are severally secured to the axles ofrollers l and 6 of conveyors 4 and 5, respectively, and with such gearsthe driven gear 30 meshes. Thus, when the motor i2 is energized thethree conveyors travel in the directions indicated by arrows, it beingnoted that the upper reaches of conveyors 4 and 5 travel inleft-to-right direction, while the upper reach of conveyor 3 travels inopposite direction.

When the work W moves through the mill (I, 2) it is received upon theupper reach of conveyor 3 and rapidly carried or shot upward between theadjacent ends of conveyors t and 5, whereupon it falls to position onconveyor 5. (The dotted lines W and arrow indicate the movement.) Uponfalling to positionon the upper reach of conveyor 4, the right-to-leftmovement of the sheet is arrested and immediately movement inleft-to-right direction ensues. The work, advancing in left-to-rightcourse, is engaged by the conveyor 5 rounding roller 6; the work islifted and drawn to position on the conveyor 5, and then conducted toposition W over the upper roll I of the mill. The roller grabs the workin tongs and reintroduces it to the mill in the manner alreadydescribed. This cycle of the work is repeated time and again, until themetal being worked is reduced to a sheet of given specifications.

Beneath the conveyors 3, 4, 5 in the apparatus described there isprovided a station S for the reception of the finished sheets, and inthis workreceiving station the sheets may be stacked, or placed on aconveyor and conducted to stacking instrumentalities (or otherapparatus) situated more or less remote from the rolling mill. In anycase the apparatus of the invention includes means which are adapted, atthe will of the attendant, to interrupt the above-described advance ofthe work through thesystem of conveyors and to discharge it into stationS. For present purposes, the stacking or piling of the sheets isefiected in the work-receiving station, and in exemplary way the sheetsare stacked upon a floor 16.

When the sheet is introduced between the rolls I, 2 for the final pass,the roller energizes the motor H, with the consequence and efiect thatthe rack 9 is shifted downward and the conveyor 3 movedcounter-clockwise into the position indicated in broken lines 300. Thisdisengages the driven gear 30 from the gears 40 and 50 and conveyors 4and 5 may come temporarily to rest. The finished sheet, upon leaving themill, is delivered, by the downwardly adjusted conveyor 3, to thereceiving station S. A declining brow l1 and a vertical back-stop l8serve respectively to guide and arrest the sheet moving from theconveyor, in such. manner that the sheets delivered from time to time tothe station S arrange themselves in a stack or pack P upon the floor "5.

Each time that a sheet is finished, and delivered to station S, theroller (by effecting reverse operation of the motor H) restores theconveyor 3 to its full-line position. Thus, the sheet-ejecting operationrequires only a moments time, and the apparatus is quickly restored tocondition for normal operation. Manifestly, by regulating the speeds ofthe motors H and I2 the speed of operation may be adjusted to suit theroller,

Manifestly, switches and rheostats (not shown) for controlling theenergizing and speed of the motors H and I2 may be arranged in a placeof convenience for the roller on the workintroducing side of the mill.The wiring and installation of such controls may be effected in any oneof several known Waysit is a matter for the electrician, and thisspecification need dwell no further upon it.

It is contemplated that the apparatus of the invention may be entirelyhoused, or substantially so, and that the temperature within the housingmay be kept at elevated value, in order that the work will not undulycool or chill while it is in course of movement between successivepasses through the mill l, 2.

Of the particular organization of conveyors 3, 4 and 5, it remains to besaid that the position of the upper end of conveyor 3, relatively to theright-hand end of conveyor 4, is such that the sheet propelled upward(in right-to-left direc-- tion) on conveyor 3 does not drag on its underface against the conveyor 4, traveling in left-toright direction androunding the roller 1. As already mentioned, the travel of the conveyor3 is rapid, so that the sheet is shot to a position above the conveyor 4(cf. sheet in position W without touching or scraping against theconveyor 4 as it rounds its supporting roller 1. The effect is as thoughthe sheet were manually tossed and allowed to fall fiat upon the upperreach of the traveling conveyor. In such way the scratching and marringof the surface of the work is reduced to a minimum. If necessary a stopl9 may be provided at the left-hand end of the conveyor 4, to preventthe sheets overshooting the conveyor.

The apparatus described may be modified, elaborated and refined withinthe skill of the engineer and mechanic without avoiding the essence ofthe invention defined in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination with a rolling mill, an automatic work-catcher,including a pair of endless conveyors arranged end to end and with aninterval between, and a third endless conveyor extending outward fromthe work-delivering pass of said mill to the interval between theconveyors first named, means for driving said conveyors, the conveyorsof the pair in a common direction of travel opposite to the direction oftravel of the third conveyor, the upper reach of said third conveyorbeing adapted to receive the work delivered by said mill, and deliver itthrough the interval between said pair of conveyors to position on theupper reach of one conveyor of said pair, and a receiving stage for thefinished work, said third conveyor being mounted to swing about the endthereof which is adjacent to said work-delivering pass of the mill formoving the opposite end of such conveyor from its normal positionadjacent to the interval between said pair of conveyors to a positionadjacent to said receiving stage,

2. The structure of claim 1, in which each of said conveyors is trainedover rollers, one of the rollers of each conveyor being arranged at theend of the conveyor that lies adjacent to the interval between the pairof conveyors first named, and each of said last-mentioned rollers beingequipped with gears, together with a centralized driving mechanismarranged adjacent to such interval and connected to the gear-bearingrollers of the three conveyors.

3. In combination with a rolling mill, an automatic work-catcherincluding a pair of endless conveyors arranged end to end with aninterval between, and a third endless conveyor extending outward fromthe work-delivering pass of said mill to the interval between theconveyors first named, means for normally driving the three conveyorscontinuously, the conveyors of the pair in a common direction of travelopposite to the direction of travel of the third conveyor, the lowerreach of one conveyor of said pair extending above and cooperating withthe upper reach of the third conveyor in providing a pass through whichwork delivered by the mill to said third conveyor is advanced toposition on the upper reach of the other conveyor of said pair, a receiving stage for finished work, said third conveyor being mounted toswing about the end thereof which is adjacent to said work-deliveringpass of the mill for moving the opposite end of suchconveyor from itsnormal position adjacent to the interval between the first two conveyorsto a position adjacent to said stage.

4. The structure of claim 1, together with means for powerfully swingingsaid third conveyor, said means including a rack connected to theconveyor structure, a pinion in mesh with said rack, and a reversibleelectric motor for driving said pinion in alternate directions.

5. The structure of claim 3, together with means for powerfully swingingsaid third conveyor, said means including a rack connected to theconveyor structure, a pinion in mesh with said rack and a reversibleelectric motor for driving said pinion in alternate directions.

GEORGE

